Game Preview 1/31 – Heat Play In Tacoma Friday Night

Harrisburg Begins Five Game Road Swing

The Harrisburg Heat of the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) begin a five game road trip as they travel to Tacoma, Washington to play the Tacoma Stars on Friday evening January 31.  Kick off is 10:35 P.M. EST.   The Harrisburg Heat, with a record of 8-4, are currently in fourth place in the Eastern Conference.  The top four teams advance to the playoffs.  The game can be viewed on line at masltv.com.

The Tacoma Stars are 5-7 and in fourth place in the Western Conference.  The Stars are coming off a big win as they defeated the previously undefeated Monterrey Flash last Friday in Tacoma by a score of 7-6.  The Stars are led by last year’s MASL Most Valuable Player Nick Perera.  Perera is having another outstanding season as he has scored 14 goals and recorded 16 assists this year.  The Stars have many other outstanding players including former all league goalkeeper Danny Waltman.

The Heat are looking to continue the progress they made during the 2018/2019 season.  With Head Coach Pat Healey at the helm, the Heat increased their wins by 83% last year as they finished with a 11-13 record.  There was also significant improvement during the season last year as the Heat began with a 1-7 record in the first eight games of the year.  Over the final sixteen games, the Heat won 10 games including two wins over the Baltimore Blast and wins against Utica City FC and the Milwaukee Wave.  Milwaukee was the 2018/2019 champions of the Major Arena Soccer League and Baltimore and Utica were play-off teams last season.

The Heat’s offense is led by Dom Francis and Daniel Vilella.  Francis leads the teams in goals scored with 21 and Villela’s 12 assists leads the Heat team in assists.  Defensively, Elton de Oliveira tops the MASL with 25 blocked shots.    In goal, William Banahene was named to the MASL Team of the Week again this past week.  He has an outstanding goals against average of 3.61 and leads the league in save percentage at 76%.  The Heat are also excelling in their specialty team play.  They are fourth in the Eastern Conference in power play offense and first in the league in power play defense.

After the five game road trip, the Heat return home on February 22^nd as they play the Orlando SeaWolves.  For tickets, please go to www.harrisburgheat.com.  For group discounts or more information, contact Kevin Healey at kevin@harrisburgheat.com.